Remembering Annette Brodie

November 04, 2009|May Lee Johnson

Walkway around Beck's Lake dedicated in memory of her good deeds. It has long been the wish of the Annette Brodie family that something in the LaSalle Park area bear the name of their mother. Their hopes were fulfilled last week when a large crowd of family and friends gathered for the naming of a new walkway around Beck's Lake. In a drenching rain, daughters Gail Brodie and Paula Brodie Johnson and longtime resident of the LaSalle Park area, Leonard "Squeaky" Clay, unveiled "The Annette E. Brodie Memorial Walkway." The plaque also bears the image of Annette Brodie. Gail Brodie had hoped for many years to have something named for her mother, who dedicated her life to helping the residents of the LaSalle Park area. "My mother's work started back in the 1950s," Gail Brodie said. "She help organize the people of LaSalle Park to get the city to pave West Washington Street and many of the other streets on the lake as well." Annette ran the LaSalle Center -- which later became the LaSalle Fillmore Neighborhood Center -- from 1957 to 1987. She also was founder of the LaSalle Park District Council. Councilman Henry Davis Jr. led the effort to name the walkway after longtime LaSalle Park resident Wendall Johnson came up with the idea. "Mrs. Brodie was an advocate for people who didn't have anything and she was always out there working to make things better," said Johnson. "When I started working with Gail and Paula it was like seeing Mrs. Brodie and all her good works again. "When I look at the walking path, it reminds me of Mrs. Brodie's steps. For me, this walkway is one way to give back to someone who gave to all of us. "It's also out of respect for her daughters who have for a long time picked up the torch and carried it proudly." The ceremony and reception were at the Charles Black Center. Brodie's children and grandchildren released 20 white balloons to symbolize each year since her death on Nov. 7, 1989. "I am so proud that the city finally decided to do something to honor my mother's good works." said Judy Brooks, the youngest daughter. "I sometimes ride past there two and three times a day just to look at it and it really makes me happy." Listen to May Lee Johnson live at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays on WUBS, 89.7-FM.